Cox Phoenix (Peoria, AZ) came out and installed my cards today. Everything is up and running and I am getting all of the channels I requested.

The installer only had 2 cards with him and was only expecting a single card TV style install so if you are ordering and have to deal with a truck roll make sure they note on the work order that the installer needs to bring 2 cards and a couple of spares and that the install is for a TiVo that uses 2 cards. This was the installers first TiVo and he was surprised at the whole thing. Cox might want to at least put a note out to the activation and installation techs so they are aware of the Series3...

The installer was able to get one card up and running immediately but the other was dead (kept insisting it needed to download firmware). He ended up calling another tech in the area and getting a couple of spare cards from him. The next one he tried after getting back from picking the cards up worked no problem.

I was getting tiling and signal loss on some of the digitals but an amp behind my media cabinet fixed that no problem. Before the amp I was in the low 70s according to the onboard signal meter on the channels that were tiling, now with the amp they are up in the mid 90s. I wish Cox would finish up with the digital simulcast conversion in this area so that I don't have to set all my season passes up on the 800 series test channels that may or may not stay where they are since I get some ugly noise on some of the analogs now with the amp.

Reran the guided setup and have been sitting on my ass watching InHD and DiscoveryHD for the last couple of hours. I can't wait for this weekend and getting the NASCAR Cup race recorded in HD off of TNTHD.

Overall I am pretty happy with the whole thing and I will update if I run into any problems.

Let's really mess things up now: I haven't seen anyone else post on this so I'll let everyone know how it goes. We have sold our current house and are moving on the 15th. This also involves moving service to the new address for Cable. At this point I don't know if I will have to have the CableCards replaced once I get to the new location (Avondale, AZ vs. Peoria, AZ where we are now) or if they can just set the cards up for the new head end. I'll be calling Cox today to schedule the disconnect of service at my old address and the move of service to my new one.

I'll post the results once I have Internet access back and new service all set in the next couple of weeks.

I have a scheduled date of 11/16 between 8 and 10AM for installation at the new place and disconnection of service at the old. According to the rep Cox does have to replace the CableCards (at an install fee of $9.95) so we'll see how everything goes. It ought to be fun to try to get this done while I am moving stuff in to my new place. Guess I'll have to have a TV and the TiVo stored in the back of one of my cars for easy access when the Cox tech shows.

Thanks for the good luck wish. I'll need it, otherwise I am stuck watching the final NASCAR race live and possibly without HD. Thankfully I get to see the Phoenix one in person this weekend so if I miss the last one it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

Had my CCs install on the 4th and all seems to be fine so far. Initially we get a bad cablecard and had to call another tech to get another one. Once we tried the second and third card all went well after activation. Was getting some tiling initially, but all seems to be fine now.

I returned my HD DVR and standard DVR that I had and picked up another cable box for my old Series 2. I'm anxious to see if there is going to be any difference in my monthly bill.

I do get the music channels. MTVHD was a plesant suprise. It reminds me of RaveHD on Voom. I was happy to get ESPNHD w/o the sports tier too.

A couple of questions for you....The cable guy is here now and he says that all local channels are in HD and there is no need for an OTA atenna.

1. Is that true?
2. If not, do you install the atenna into the tivo or tv?
3. I'v noticed that many local channels such as channel 5 display "5, 5-1". Some of them even have 3. Does this have to do with SD, HD?

I haven't had much time to play with it since he is still here, just thought I'd ask.

A couple of questions for you....The cable guy is here now and he says that all local channels are in HD and there is no need for an OTA atenna.

1. Is that true?
2. If not, do you install the atenna into the tivo or tv?
3. I'v noticed that many local channels such as channel 5 display "5, 5-1". Some of them even have 3. Does this have to do with SD, HD?

I haven't had much time to play with it since he is still here, just thought I'd ask.

Thanks in advance.

1. - Yes the big nets that have local HD broadcast are on channels prefixed with a 7. 12-1 is 712. 5-1 is 705 etc.
2. I disconnected my antenna once I got the cablecards installed. It shouldn't hurt to leave it there if you want, but some channels will be duplicated.
3. All of the x-x channels are your digital off-air channels. This doesn't necessarily mean they are HD.

Cox's re-broadcast of the HD channels seems to be on-par with the off-air broadcast so for the S3 I just let it get it all from Cox. In my case having both the cable and the antenna connected seemed to be causing drop outs on the cable channels. It may have been coincidence but it works perfect now with the antenna disconnected. It's a case of 'ain't broke, don't fix it'.

...
3. I'v noticed that many local channels such as channel 5 display "5, 5-1". Some of them even have 3. Does this have to do with SD, HD?

5 (ant) = analog OTA broadcast of 5
5 (cbl) = cable company SD re-transmission of 5 (this could be analog or digital depending on your cable company and if you are using cablecards or not)
5-1 (ant) = digital OTA broadcast of 5

I usually disable the analog/SD versions in my channel lineup such that wishlists use the HD versions wherever possible.

You can also get the HD channels thru Cox by using a QAM tuner. I don't know why they don't put them in numerical order, but I guess you can't be picky seeing that they are free. And you should be able to get these too if you only have basic cable, 2-22.

You can also get the HD channels thru Cox by using a QUAM tuner. I don't know why they don't put them in numerical order, but I guess you can't be picky seeing that they are free. And you should be able to get these too if you only have basic cable, 2-22.

The Cox provided HD and HD/DVR are also different prices. Same place have the same price for box rental as a regular digital box, but Omaha's HD and HD/DVR are $5..20 higher than the regular digital boxes.

1. - Yes the big nets that have local HD broadcast are on channels prefixed with a 7. 12-1 is 712. 5-1 is 705 etc.
2. I disconnected my antenna once I got the cablecards installed. It shouldn't hurt to leave it there if you want, but some channels will be duplicated.
3. All of the x-x channels are your digital off-air channels. This doesn't necessarily mean they are HD.

Cox's re-broadcast of the HD channels seems to be on-par with the off-air broadcast so for the S3 I just let it get it all from Cox. In my case having both the cable and the antenna connected seemed to be causing drop outs on the cable channels. It may have been coincidence but it works perfect now with the antenna disconnected. It's a case of 'ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Thanks for the clarification. I went ahead and disconnected the antenna and switch the S3 to only accept Cable channels vs Cable/Antenna channels. Everything is up and running. As I understand it, all HD channels are above 700.

Install went great. The guy was here for about an hour and both cards worked right off the bat. About 3 hours later, Card 1 stopped working so I called Cox. Within 5 minutes is was back up and running.

I had my two cable cards installed today. No problems at all. The tech who came out had never done one before and couldn't understand why I needed two cards. He did it anyway and called in the info. After the cards were initialized I was in business.

__________________
Wondering when the next trip to To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. will be ?

When the cox installer arrived, he knew nothing about TIVO Series 3. He would not even read the instruction sheet which Tivo had provided. He referred me to a supervisor who told me that the cablecards would not work in a Tivo, that Cox was working on a special Tivo Cablecard. I was to have the tech remove the cards and leave.

I politely declined to accept his premise, telling him that his explanation did not make sense to me. The cards would stay, and I would get them to work.

After 15 calls to Cox technical support, and another service appointment, I finally got the host ID numbers logged and everything now works just fine.

These technicians should do some research and give correct info to customers. I have written a respectfully worded complaint to Cox on this issue.

When the cox installer arrived, he knew nothing about TIVO Series 3. He would not even read the instruction sheet which Tivo had provided. He referred me to a supervisor who told me that the cablecards would not work in a Tivo, that Cox was working on a special Tivo Cablecard. I was to have the tech remove the cards and leave.

I politely declined to accept his premise, telling him that his explanation did not make sense to me. The cards would stay, and I would get them to work.

After 15 calls to Cox technical support, and another service appointment, I finally got the host ID numbers logged and everything now works just fine.

These technicians should do some research and give correct info to customers. I have written a respectfully worded complaint to Cox on this issue.

Very well done. My installers (two units on two separate occasions) candidly mentioned that they did not receive any training prior to launch. The 2nd one said they "had a meeting about it" just a few weeks ago. Both said I was only their 2nd Series3, but what really helped is both had great attitudes (Cox Orange County, CA). Then again, every time the techs called in with the pairing info, the snickering comments made it obvious the folks on the other end weren't exactly jumping for joy...

__________________
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

We've had our Series 3 since September and it has been working well with Cox Orange County, CA. When the original installer came out he had a number of CableCards because, as he put it: "you can never tell which one of these will work so I always bring extras". We also had a Cox HD DVR split off the same cable.

This past weekend I removed the Cox HD DVR and the splitter as it looked like one of the TIVO turners wasn't working. After plugging the cable back in and rebooting TIVO we no longer had any pay channels. I called Cox Customer Service which sent a signal down the line with no effect. So a service call was scheduled for this afternoon.

The Tech that arrived was not as well versed on CableCards (or TIVO) as the initial installer. He kept suggesting that the 'Dual CableCard systems are problematic". He tested the lines at the house connection and at the location where the Series 3 is installed. He changed the connector on the Coax line and reconnected it. They sent several refreshes down the line with no change.

After 1.5 hours of this they finally decided, Hmmm, let's check the "Host" and "Data" numbers on the cards. Sure enough they had changed from the original installation. The Tech didn't know how they could have changed.

They inputted the correct numbers in their system and everything is working again. I asked him why the Customer Service person couldn't help me and his response was only he can speak with more technical people who can refresh the lines.

I told him next time he should check the numbers first instead of wasting so much time. I was controlling the TIVO as I knew more about it than he did after playing with it all weekend.

As far as cost is concerned, I pay $3.98 for the two CableCards each month. The install charge was $39.99. I love my Series 3 Box even though it is missing some of the features from my other TIVO's.

I was told that new CableCards will be coming out next year which will feature two-way communication. This will enable PPV and other features I rarely used. I was also told that Cox will be offering their own boxes with TIVO software installed, but I guess that is for another forum.

Hmm...I'd better take a good look at my next bill; When I had a Series3 and an HD-PVR, they told me they would charge me only one add'l outlet fee; when I swapped out the HD-PVR for a 2nd Series3 they told me the bill would change by dropping the HD STB+DVR fee and adding the two CC fees, but no changes to the outlet fees...

__________________
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

Just sent the Cox-Rhode Island Tech out the door after getting both cards to work on the first try. He was in and out of my living room in 35 minutes with the old Motorola digital box. Install was $39.95 plus the monthly fees. I don't have HD, only extended basic digital with HBO. Rep told me I will actually save a couple of bucks since the two cards at $1.99 each are cheaper than the digital box rental. Time will tell. Now the trickle down.... Tivo 2 unit to replace the old Sony SVR-2000 in the bedroom. The Sony is going to get pieced out.

CableCard install went well, once we (me and the installer) saw that the CCs were doing a firmware update. I called TiVo tech support. The CSR said it could take 1-2 hours for the update to complete.
The installer left, going me his cell phone number. Update only took 15 minutes, called the installer and he came right back. He called Cox with the CC Host ID #'s and all was well.

Let's really mess things up now: I haven't seen anyone else post on this so I'll let everyone know how it goes. We have sold our current house and are moving on the 15th. This also involves moving service to the new address for Cable. At this point I don't know if I will have to have the CableCards replaced once I get to the new location (Avondale, AZ vs. Peoria, AZ where we are now) or if they can just set the cards up for the new head end. I'll be calling Cox today to schedule the disconnect of service at my old address and the move of service to my new one.

I'll post the results once I have Internet access back and new service all set in the next couple of weeks.

Everything went well other than some typical problems with the sale of my existing house causing me to have to delay my cable installation until today due to occupancy dates and full Cox installation schedules along with holidays and vacation.

They were able to just transfer the Cable Cards to the new head end and activate them there, however a call to update the host ids for both cards was still required as at some point during the move my Series3 died (under warranty and TiVo has replaced it). The replacement sent out from TiVo didn't have the same host IDs as before (duh) and would tune to channels for a split second and then pop the Cable Card Host ID screen up, both cards sat at "Waiting for CP Auth". After the tech that was out to install all of my cable stuff updated the host ID on both cards with whoever they talk to on the phone to get that type of thing done, closed the work order and had them send hits out everything was hunky-dory. I still need to call and bug them about not getting STARZ-HD but other than that everything is back to normal and I had the STARZ-HD problem at the old location too. Now to go back through and redo all my thumbs ratings and get my season passes set back up.

By the way, if you have an S3 with the orange OLED panel in the front and become attached to that like I have and have to replace the unit with a newer one with the dim-ass green OLED it is possible to swap the front panels with little to no trouble as long as you have the right tools. So as long as you aren't replacing your TiVo because of the front panel you should be able to swap it out, YMMV.

Cox in Baton Rouge Louisiana just told me that I would have to pay for two installs at $54.95 and $7.95 per card per month for cable cards. I told them it has for one device a Tivo Series 3. I might as well have told them it was for a Buick Skylark for the response that I got. They said well as long as it has a slot on the back it doesn't matter. I said this is one device and they said it didn't matter 2 slots 2 cards 2 fees. They asked if I wanted to go with just one and I said no and said I'd check back.

I have had a Tivo Series 3 for about a month here in Vegas. Cox installed two cable cards and all seemed to go well. Soon afterward, I noticed that channel 725 MHD is not received. I did receive it when I had the SA 8300 HD BOX. Cox has sent out two technicians and were unable to resolve the problem. All other channels including SD, HD and premium SD and HD come in fine. After several calls from the 2nd level tech to Cox he said that channel 725, which went on line on Oct 17, is not received currently by cable cards and there is no ETA for a fix. Cox did confirm that it is a cable card issue and not a HD Tivo problem.

The signal strength was tested and it is fine according to the two techs.

Any one else from Vegas with a HD Tivo have this issue?

Other than the one missing channel from my line up I am very satisfied with my HD Tivo and find if far superior to the SA 8300 HD box it replaced.

Does any one have any suggestions as to what the issue could be with the one channel that does not come it?

I'm with Cox Orange County, CA (Motorola headend and cablecards). We just recently got MHD added to our lineup as well. The day that MHD became available for digital subscribers with the Motorola digital boxes it also became available for cablecard subscribers. And Tivo was even nice enough to send a message about the lineup change (several other changes happened the same day MHD became available). I was surprised it was that easy, but there you have it.

The cable cards here in Vegas are from SA. Maybe the problem is restricted to SA or just to Vegas.

Other changes have occurred and I have received messages from Tivo telling me about them. The only problem has been with MHD.

I'm in Vegas too. I also noticed that I don't get 725. The only other channel I have had a problem with is 340 G4TV. I was going to call Cox, but thought I'd check here first. Good to hear that it's not an issue with the Tivo. Let me know if you don't get 340 as well. I'm hoping it is the same issue.